July 5, 2013

Fav Pins and a Freebie

There's a LOT to squeeze into this one post so I'd better get started. It's already quite late in the day. Normally I blog the first thing in the morning while having my coffee. Today I was up early as usual (I have a special cat clock that rings anywhere between five and seven each day whether I set the alarm or not), but instead of blogging I got showered, got dressed, grabbed my coffee, hopped in the car, picked up my niece and her two youngest, and off we drove to Cleveland's West Side Market about a 60 minute trip. WE LOVE IT THERE!!!!!

Anyway... after three hours of shopping, a yummy lunch, the return trip, unpacking first at my niece's house, then at mine, and letting the above mentioned cat clock visit with me for 30 minutes, it is now LATE, LATE afternoon and I'm just now starting to blog.

PIN #1: I found the CUTEST bulletin board idea at Garden of Praise! Since I have a smaller homeroom class this room, I think it will be doable for me. I'm thinking of hanging this one right outside my classroom door next to my students' lockers.

PIN #2: Tiffany over at The Nest Effect blogged about the motivational ideas and rewards she implements in her classroom. I fell in love with her idea of punch cards. She purchased her cards from VistaPrint, and on her blog she offers all her templates for your use. I'd like to do a little adaptation of the homework punch card to suit all three of my Language Arts sections (grades five, six, and eight). I bought a box of printable business cards from Dollar Tree (yes, I only paid one dollar for the same box that sells for twenty bucks at the office chain stores) last summer and never used them. I think I can create a personalized card for each of my students. LOVIN' this idea!

PIN #3: I LOVE to use videos to engage students in a lesson. They are sooooo attuned to watching visual stimuli that it only makes sense to tap into this habit. The Literacy Shed has loads of educational short videos to support your Language Arts lessons.

PIN #4: I am shamelessly promoting one of my product pins. I was so happy this past week when I finally was able to update and include several powerpoints in my Teachers Pay Teachers inventory. I am also including a little FREEBIE that goes along with it. Only you, my bloggy friends, have access to this particular freebie about Punnett Squares and gene theory. My sixth graders enjoyed doing this activity as part of the follow-up to the Cells and Heredity PowerPoint Presentation. Just click on the pic of the worksheet for a free copy.